


Summertime

by apocryphile



Category: West Wing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-06
Updated: 2012-05-06
Packaged: 2017-11-04 23:09:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/399225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apocryphile/pseuds/apocryphile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josh asks Donna out. None of this tumbling into each other sideways nonsense - he (more or less) just steps the frak up and asks her. </p><p>Except they're, you know, well, them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Summertime

**Author's Note:**

> I gave this as a prompt to someone else and it instantly wrote itself in my head.

Sam was glaring at the latest long-term economic projections, hoping they’d oblige him by becoming more interesting but beginning to realise he was going to be up half the night trying to coax even a handful of decent soundbites for CJ out of the report, when Josh bounced into his office.  
“Hey, buddy, are you busy?”  
Sam took off his glasses and ran a hand over his eyes.  
“Yes.”  
“Take a break!”  
“I can’t, I--“ Sam finally looked at Josh properly. He looked almost manic, apparently very happy about something but clearly wound up tight as a tic. Sam set his glasses on his desk.  
“Josh, what’s going on?”  
“What, with me? Oh, um…” He took a deep breath. “I, uh, think I’m in love with Donna.”  
Sam sat bolt upright.  
“Donna, your assistant, Donna?”  
Josh beamed.  
“Yes. I’m going to ask her out.”  
“Um, Josh, do you want to close the door maybe?”  
Josh glanced absently behind him and kicked the door. It closed most of the way.  
“Josh, you can’t do that.”  
Josh grinned again.  
“I can, actually. Leo said so.”  
“Leo did what?”  
Josh folded himself into one of the chairs and began to explain.

He’d been in Leo’s office, going over the final details of their first State Dinner, in honour of the French President. They’d been poring over the seating plan, which needed some last minute readjustment after a spat at the UN, when Donna had breezed in. She’d just changed into her dress, which Josh knew she’d been saving up for, and the sight of her had caused him to lose his train of thought altogether. Leo had watched, amused, as his deputy stood speechless in the middle of the room while Donna darted around, dropping off one stack of notes and gathering another, and then ground to a halt in front of him and grimaced at his bowtie. Setting the pile of folders on a chair, she’d stepped right up to him without so much as a word and tugged at the black silk ends until she was satisfied. Then with a cheery reminder that the guests were due any minute, she’d scurried off again, leaving behind the faint scent of an unfamiliar perfume, and a dazed, blushing Josh.  
“Boy, have you got it bad.”  
“What, me? No, it’s not… I don’t…”  
Leo fixed him with a deadpan stare until Josh coloured redder still and looked at his feet.  
“Josh, you know how I feel about this. I don’t want you giving everything up for this job. What did I say when you and Mandy got together?”  
Josh shuffled his feet like an unruly schoolboy.  
“Keep it out of the office and no matter what happens, be a gentleman.”  
“And what did I say when you failed to do either of those things?”  
“Nothing.”  
“Exactly. Now, this is the White House, and Donna is a much nicer person than Mandy, so I reserve the right to haul your ass out to the woodshed if you don’t listen to me this time, but ideally I’m hoping this is the last time we’ll have to have this discussion.”  
“I… Leo… really?”  
“Oh for heaven’s sake, Joshua. Take her out to dinner, see how it goes, and then decide what to do next, but for the love of God, ask someone else for dating advice.”  
Josh nodded, looking slightly shellshocked.  
“And not tonight!” Leo added hastily. “I need your head in the game tonight.”  
“Yes sir.”  
“Now get out of here.”  
Josh had left his office so fast he’d practically tripped over his own feet. 

“Wow.”  
Grinning, Sam had got up from behind his desk and walked around to join Josh on the visitors’ chairs.  
“You’re sure about this.”  
Looking rather surprised at his own pronouncement, Josh nodded. “Yeah.”  
“It’s not just a crush. You’re in love with her.”  
“I think so, yeah. I mean… I think it’s possible that I’ll fall more in love with her. But I think the, ah, falling has already started.”  
Sam chuckled.  
“Well, I think it’s great. Donna’s wonderful, and you two are beyond compatible. Do you think she knows?”  
Josh’s brow furrowed.  
“I don’t know. I didn’t think I was allowed to be until last week, so I haven’t… I mean, I send her flowers and stuff, but that’s just, you know, boss stuff.”  
“I don’t send Kathy flowers, Josh.”  
Josh nodded solemnly.  
“I’m beginning to realise there’s a lot of things most people don’t do with their assistants.”  
Sam’s eyebrows practically vanished into his hairline but Josh barrelled on undeterred.  
“I’m going to ask her out to dinner.”  
Sam shook his head in disbelief.  
“Josh, have you ever, in your life, asked a woman out to dinner?”  
“I’ve had girlfriends, Sam!”  
Sam smiled indulgently.  
“Yes, but you usually just wait until someone wins an election and then pounce on them when everyone’s celebrating.”  
Josh opened his mouth to protest and then closed it again. When he did speak, he suddenly sounded very sad.  
“I was going to kiss her when we won the Illinois primary but my Dad died.”  
Sam reached out and laid a hand on his friend’s arm.  
“Your Dad would have loved her, Josh.”  
Josh nodded with a sad little smile.  
“So when are you going to ask her?”  
Josh brightened again.  
“Right now!”  
Sam’s eyes widened.  
“You’re just going to call her over to your desk and blurt it out?”  
“I don’t know, I hadn’t really thought about it.”  
“Leo did say to keep it out of the office.”  
Josh nodded thoughtfully. He was silent for a moment and then, brow set in a reflective furrow, he pushed himself to his feet and drifted out of Sam’s office without another word. Sam watched him go, wondering fleetingly whether he’d just hallucinated the entire conversation, and then scrambled to his feet and ran towards CJ’s office as fast as his legs would carry him.

About an hour later, Donna peeked around the doorframe of Josh’s office. He’d been sitting in there completely silently for far longer than was characteristic and she was, maybe not quite worried yet, but a little confused.  
“Josh, are you OK?”  
He looked up like she’d caught him committing election fraud or something.  
“I… I… me? Why?”  
“Yes, you. You’re being very quiet.”  
“Oh, um. I was thinking.”  
She giggled.  
“I see. That does take a lot out of you.”  
He blinked, still looking dazed, and she leaned over and gently touched his forehead.  
“Are you sick?”  
There was genuine concern in her voice, and he shook himself and stood up, smiling.  
“I’m alright, really. Just wondering about something.”  
“And what was that?”  
He stared at her for a long moment, and she felt heat rising in her cheeks. He’d been looking at her differently, lately. He’d always stared, and she’d never minded, secure in the knowledge that he liked and respected her for her, however much he also liked her legs, but lately his looks had become more covetous, proprietary even. She still didn’t mind, but she was finding it disconcerting.  
“Just thinking it was time to go home.”  
It was seven thirty PM, hours before they usually broke for dinner, let alone called it a night. It was a beautiful summer evening, radiantly sunny but without the oppressive heat of the past few weeks, and she’d been gazing wistfully out of every window she passed. She wondered if he’d noticed.  
“Are you sure you’re alright? It’s way too early for us to knock off.”  
“I’m sure one night off won’t bring down the government.”  
Josh usually behaved as though anything might bring down the government at any moment. Shaking her head in disbelief, Donna decided not to question her good fortune, and went off to get her things.  
Josh trailed after her, looking… impatient? apprehensive?...and leaned against the partition next to her desk.  
“I’ll walk you out.”  
They walked out together every few days so she just nodded absently, tidying up her desk for the night. When she straightened up and shouldered her purse, his face lit up like they were off to the fair, and she began to feel suspicious.  
“Josh, are you trying to lure me into some kind of trap? Is there another dinner you need me to eavesdrop at or something?”  
He looked horrified.  
“No! No, not at all.”  
Shrugging, she set off towards the exit. Josh scurried to catch her up, and after a moment she felt his fingers brushing up her side, coming to rest just below her shoulder.  
Sam and CJ were standing in the lobby, looking as though they were waiting for them, but they just smiled and waved and called out goodnight. Donna thought she saw Josh make a strange face at Sam, but she’d given up trying to keep track of the senior staff’s antics. She adored them and was glad they were all so willing to have fun alongside their hard work but she worried sometimes about what any outsiders might think of the pranks and the teasing she witnessed in the West Wing on an almost daily basis.

She enjoyed the feeling of Josh’s hand on her back as they walked side by side through the grounds to the gate. He fumbled trying to let them out, and she shook her head in mock exasperation, making a pantomime of putting on her dark glasses as though ashamed to be seen with him. He smiled, but said nothing, and she had to resist the urge to snap her fingers in front of his nose.  
As they stepped out of the shade of the trees that surrounded the guardhouse she turned her face up to the sun and took a deep breath, basking in the perfectly warm evening air. After a few more steps, she stopped, and held her bag out to Josh.  
“Can you hold this for a second?”  
Surprised, he complied, and she shrugged off her jacket, revealing that what had looked like an ordinary blouse was in fact a filmy camisole with tiny straps. Josh’s face was an absolute picture and she giggled, delighted to finally get a reaction out of him. Rummaging in the tote that he still held in his hand, she pulled out a pair of sandals, and then, using him as a leaning post, she gracefully balanced first on one leg and then the other, changing out of her sensible office shoes and into delicate summer slip-ons that were little more than a few pieces of brightly coloured fabric attached to a flimsy canvas sole. Josh’s eyes looked like they might roll out of his head at the sight of her fuschia toenails, and, feeling daring, she looked him straight in the eye as she tugged her hair out of the neat ponytail she’d worn all day, shook it out, and then tied it haphazardly back into a bun. He didn’t even blink. Now deliberately performing for him, she reached behind her back and undid the safety pin that kept her skirt gathered at her waist. It slipped several inches downward, hanging off her hips, her gauzy shirt becoming untucked and revealing a sliver of freckled skin above the waistband. Revelling in the heat of his gaze, she twirled, and then burst out laughing when he suddenly seemed to realise how blatantly he’d been ogling her and tried to collect himself.  
“Relax, Josh. Take your jacket off. It’s really hot out here.”  
“You’re really hot,” he practically growled, and then stiffened and shot her a terrified look when he realised what had just slipped out.  
She laid a hand on his arm, standing far too close.  
“It’s OK.” She gave him a coquettish dip of the head. “Thank you.”  
He blinked, and seemed to make up his mind about something.  
“You really are. That was… that was…” he trailed off, searching for the right words to describe the effect her little performance had had on him. It was better than any striptease he’d ever seen, because it was genuine – she was comfortable around him and just wanted to enjoy the sunshine – and it left him wanting, desperately, more. And then suddenly she was tugging his jacket off for him and loosening his tie, and he felt a cavemanlike to urge to actually pick her up and carry her home. Clenching his jaw, he concentrated on rolling his sleeves up as she confiscated his jacket to fold it properly.  
“Are you done for the night?”  
He startled like she’d slapped him and she rolled her eyes at his increasingly erratic behaviour.  
“I…ah…” He glanced around, seeming to realise for the first time he hadn’t brought his backpack with him. In fact she was pretty sure he hadn’t even closed his office door, much less locked it. His brow furrowed for a second, and then he appeared to reach a decision and collect himself.  
“I need you wait here for a minute, can you do that? I mean you don’t have plans?”  
“No, I didn’t know I was going to get the evening off…” she narrowed her eyes at him. “I am still getting the evening off, aren’t I?”  
“I, uh.” He took a deep breath. “I wanted to talk to you because I wanted to ask you out, I mean out to dinner, with me, you know, one night, hopefully soon, but now, after,” he flapped his hands in the general direction of her bare midriff, “I mean, I think, I was wondering…” He ran out of steam and gasped, oblivious to the fact that she was having a small meltdown of her own. “Donna, will you have dinner with me?”  
She smiled shyly, feeling herself blush.  
“Like a date?”  
He actually paused to consider the question, furrowing his brow and then nodding solemnly.  
“Ah, yes. I think so. Like a date. Well, not like a date. In fact, a date.”  
“Tonight.”  
“If that’s OK, I mean, we were going to work, so…”  
“We’re allowed to date now?”  
“Leo said so.”  
She gaped at him.  
“Well, this I have to hear.” She smiled wide. “You can tell me about it over dinner.”  
“Really?”  
She nodded, suddenly conscious of the enormity of the moment. She squeezed his hand.  
“Go lock up. I’ll be right here.”  
He smiled at her.  
“You always are.”


End file.
